Klaus wrote:

------------- Giroud -----------
Sanchez --- Özil ----- Perez

Looks like a decent attack to me. Perez to go up front if Giroud is injured or off the boil?

------------- Perez -----------

Sanchez --- Özil ----- James

Looks better! 😛 

I would do disgusting things to get James! I don't really think he's on the market this summer though.

Here's the Perez goal I mentioned earlier, by the way:

Edu like finish.

Can't believe we're actually doing stuff in the market, finally something to get excited about.

He looks just the sort of player to compliment Ozil.

Love how he takes little touches and shifts the ball before finishing to disguise what he's doing and to make the finish easier

He actually reminds me of quite a few players. Bit of a morph of Suarez, Vardy and Vela

I know very little about this guy as all i've seen are highlight clips which have underwhelmed me in that he seems to thrive on chaos which is the opposite of how Wenger sets up his teams. The positive is filling a hole in our game and pleasing Ozil and Xhaka with his runs into space but, much like Podolski, i do not see Wenger ever trusting him at point.

Anyway, 17m for him is pretty decent all things considered. It could be a lot worse, just ask West Ham fans what they think about paying 28m for Zaza.

Bit concerned Mustafi didn't stop the first goal in the comp above

Or is that a good thing which shows Lucas is the nuts?

So confused

Clrnc wrote:

Anyway, 17m for him is pretty decent all things considered. It could be a lot worse, just ask West Ham fans what they think about paying 28m for Zaza.

Just as Perez turned down Leicester, Southampton, Napoli, Zenit and Sevilla this summer, unglamorous teams like West Ham have to pay a premium to convince players to join them so it was 28m or nothing.

Never heard of him before the link came up the other day. On paper looks a bit like a budget journeyman option who has scored double figures for a season once in his career. But we're at the point where we just need someone so would have to be better than the options we already have for when Giroud breaks down.

The new Raul

Eduardo da Silva type signing. Let's hope he can chip in with a decent goal output.
I think he'll end up on the wings and won't play the lone striker role too often.

Petty much the same as most of you, never heard of him. Seems to have a decent scoring record but hardly looks like he is the going to be the player to take us to that next level. Hope he does well for us and demonstrates his quality but he certainly does not seem like he was in our top targets so is this the real quality Wenger has referred to.

fingers crossed he has a late career explosion vardy/payet style. plucky unheralded vets are in vogue atm

Cannon wrote:
Rohit wrote:

VillaverdeRCD #21 @VillaverdeRCD 8:07 PM - 9 Jun 2016
El bielorruso dice que si Vardy no va al Arsenal,el Arsenal terminará por fichar a Lucas Pérez,al que ya vinieron a ver en invierno a Riazor

Above user claimed in June itself that we will sign Lucas Perez if we fail with Vardy #ITK

Yeah i saw this. He goes on to say that apparently there is an AFC scout who hails from Galicia, same region as Deportivo and perez. He scouted perez over 'winter' and gave this info.

Edit: You have to wonder why we waited...

I thought about this. I think one reason could be that we did not want to show our hand/overpay or worse lose the player. Had we approached him/depor in june, the depor could have sat on it and asked other clubs to bid just to increase the price. Or even clubs like west ham/spurs could have offered player BIG wages. By hijacking the everton deal we have essentially matched their offer and possibly wages and lured him by the prospect of playing CL and for a bigger club. Just a theory though.

EDIT: i meant to imply losing the player as well. Have edited that in. I can understand he was our backup option. 

If that's the case then I hope the savings are worth the 5-8 points dropped by going into the season under-manned.

Cannon wrote:
Cannon wrote:

Yeah i saw this. He goes on to say that apparently there is an AFC scout who hails from Galicia, same region as Deportivo and perez. He scouted perez over 'winter' and gave this info.

Edit: You have to wonder why we waited...

I thought about this. I think one reason could be that we did not want to show our hand or overpay. Had we approached him/depor in june, the depor could have sat on it and asked other clubs to bid just to increase the price. Or even clubs like west ham/spurs could have offered player BIG wages. By hijacking the everton deal we have essentially matched their offer and possibly wages and lured him by the prospect of playing CL and for a bigger club. Just a theory though.

Doesn't work at all since he has a 20m euro release clause.

Cannon wrote:
Cannon wrote:

Yeah i saw this. He goes on to say that apparently there is an AFC scout who hails from Galicia, same region as Deportivo and perez. He scouted perez over 'winter' and gave this info.

Edit: You have to wonder why we waited...

I thought about this. I think one reason could be that we did not want to show our hand or overpay. Had we approached him/depor in june, the depor could have sat on it and asked other clubs to bid just to increase the price. Or even clubs like west ham/spurs could have offered player BIG wages. By hijacking the everton deal we have essentially matched their offer and possibly wages and lured him by the prospect of playing CL and for a bigger club. Just a theory though.

That's a bonkers theory because we did approach at least two strikers in June and July respectively

The most accurate explanation is often the simplest and obvious one. We got him because he had been on our radar. We failed with other preferred options and Everton were closing in on him. For once we bought a forward we were looking at rather than end empty handed. I don't believe the outlay on him changes our position if a quality forward becomes available.

Theories also doing the round - he is brought in to replace Campbell and indicate to selling clubs we aren't desperate for a striker any more.

If we can actually sign that forward we need, it will be the greatest window ever.

Anyone who says Arsenal fans are fickle is clearly wrong, most of our miserable bunch are still whinging away 😆

Guys don't get me wrong. The fact that we have addressed squad issues is a big deal and for that alone it is a great window. I am sure we can discuss the merits/demerits of the signings and transfer policy irrespective.

Wasn't talking about you or anyone on here, mainly Twitter.

Mirth wrote:
Cannon wrote:

I thought about this. I think one reason could be that we did not want to show our hand or overpay. Had we approached him/depor in june, the depor could have sat on it and asked other clubs to bid just to increase the price. Or even clubs like west ham/spurs could have offered player BIG wages. By hijacking the everton deal we have essentially matched their offer and possibly wages and lured him by the prospect of playing CL and for a bigger club. Just a theory though.

That's a bonkers theory because we did approach at least two strikers in June and July respectively

I have edited my post, please read it again. I also meant to imply us losing the player would have also been a consideration. 

Couple of media stories this morning suggesting we had turned this guy down earlier in the window potentially because he wasn't deemed at a high enough level quality wise.

Read that bullshit article earlier, "almost wrecked the deal" by daring to pay in installments 😆 Clickbait garbage. Who exactly did we turn down? Lots of backtracking at the bottom too on the Mustafi deal which is "back on".

So... will this guy play as a 9 or as a wide man? What's Wenger's plan here? I would like to see him thrown in there with Giroud while Ramsey and Iwobi are out. We need goals. We just don't have scoring intent. Having Peres, Giroud and Sanchez on one field might make us a little bit more threatening

awooga83 wrote:

Couple of media stories this morning suggesting we had turned this guy down earlier in the window potentially because he wasn't deemed at a high enough level quality wise.

Even if true does that matter? He obviously wasn't our first choice but better to sign him than no one.

He is also likened to Vardy who seemed to have been plan A. It's encouraging that we have wanted a particular type of forward and had options for the same.

We have been guilty in the past of not having a contingency. The more I think, I am glad we have gone ahead and signed someone in an attempt to plug a hole.

Qwiss! wrote:
awooga83 wrote:

Couple of media stories this morning suggesting we had turned this guy down earlier in the window potentially because he wasn't deemed at a high enough level quality wise.

Even if true does that matter? He obviously wasn't our first choice but better to sign him than no one.

Exactly, Elneny wasn't first choice/a priority last summer but now most of him want him in the first 11.

Similarly how many of us would have settled for Arteta back in 2009 even though he wasn't our first choice?

I believe that we have not been comparing Lucas Perez to the right set of players. Here are his numbers versus Mahrez. His stats are quite identical to the Algerian's, showing a man who is adept at both scoring and creating. I suspect he's been the alternative to Mahrez, not a striker. He has primarily played as a left winger in his career, with a more recent focus on centre forward. 


If we do use him with Giroud, then on which side would Perez and Sanchez be deployed to get the most of them?

Mirth wrote:
Qwiss! wrote:

Even if true does that matter? He obviously wasn't our first choice but better to sign him than no one.

Exactly, Elneny wasn't first choice/a priority last summer but now most of him want him in the first 11.

Similarly how many of us would have settled for Arteta back in 2009 even though he wasn't our first choice?

i always wanted Arteta next to Fabregas. i loved Arteta in his Moyes heyday. he unfortunately wasted his best years in a Merseyside backwater

Most evidence points to the fact that we didn't bid and held no interest in Mahrez, though.

Neither here nor there. The point is that he is potentially a wide forward, not primarily a reserve for Giroud. Or little bit both.

He had his best ever season in terms of output as a striker last season. As an attacking midfielder used in the center or wide his numbers are just decent. Also, in terms of close control he is not close to being as good as Mahrez.

Claudius wrote:

Neither here nor there. The point is that he is potentially a wide forward, not primarily a reserve for Giroud. Or little bit both.

Well, it would indicate that we weren't in for a Mahrez type player, which is in direct opposition to your point there.

Lets be honest though, every player we sign is potentially a wide forward.  😆

😆 @ everyone being a wide forward. they used to all be number 10s.
at least Wenger has some semblance of a complete team, if not one filled with super quality players

I think he's been signed as a centre forward put will probably play wide too when Giroud plays.

Claudius wrote:
Mirth wrote:

Exactly, Elneny wasn't first choice/a priority last summer but now most of him want him in the first 11.

Similarly how many of us would have settled for Arteta back in 2009 even though he wasn't our first choice?

i always wanted Arteta next to Fabregas. i loved Arteta in his Moyes heyday. he unfortunately wasted his best years in a Merseyside backwater

Me too. Artefacts was still capable of playing right wing and number 10 at that stage too. Would've been a great signing.